Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz-Pacheco (Santiago de Cuba, 29 June 1944) is a former

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

professor at the

University of Havana The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...

, president of the Cuban Commission for National Reconciliation and Human Rights (CCDHRN), a

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

organisation founded in 1987 whose work has been recognized internationally by receiving the

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

prize in 1991 and the Human Rights Prize of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1996. A member of the coordination council of the Cuban Patriotic Union, which has been described by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

as the "largest group of Cuban opposition", the organization pursues a peaceful opposition to the repression of civil liberties in Cuba. As a notable

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 2 ...

and human rights activist in Cuba, he has been declared numerous times to be a prisoner of conscience since 1989. He has become over thirty years a worldwide reference for human rights organizations and international press about the state of human rights in the island nation and the situation of prisoners of conscience.

Biography

Prisoner of Conscience

According to a 1989 International Amnesty report, Elizardo Sánches was detained in April 1980 and sentenced to six years in prison, charged with spreading "enemy propaganda". He was set free on 29 December 1985 but was arrested again, along with two other members of CCDHRN, in September 1986 and imprisoned without formal charges or trial until he was released in May 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sánchez, Elizardo Cuban activists Cuban dissidents Human rights in Cuba 1944 births Living people Political prisoners in Cuba